Cellulosic composition of matter containing nitro-para-xylene



Jan. 12, 1932. 5. J. CARROLL 1,841,313

CELLULOSIQ COMPOSITION OF MATTER CONTAINING NITROPARA-XYLENE' Filed Sept. 23, 1929 -N 1 2 3 B i 3 /""%E 4 4v g 5 I W V a r 4 A I 5; Q 505 90 E E n a 2 t W E g. N

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- glwwntov Patented Jan. '12, 1932 UNITED STATE sTEwART 'z r. oAnRonL, onnooIrEs nR, vnw YORK, AssIG von o' 'nAsmAn none]; comrAnY, or ROCHESTER, new YORK; A conrormrro v or new Your:

oELI inLosIo Y ooMrosITIoN or MATTER ooNTnrnmG- N iTno-rnRA-xYnEnE Application filed September 23, 1929. (Serial No."39 1-,43.

This inventionrelates to compositions of matter in which celluloseacetat'e is combined v or mixed with other substances, such asa compatible plasticizer, and a common solvent I int forboth, with or without'other useful addition agents, so' that the resulting "product will have properties such as will niake'the com osition highly advantageous for use eplastic and analogous arts, such, for instance, as the manufacture' of wrapping sheets, photographiefilm, artificial silk, varnishes or lacquers," and the like. v

One object of this invention is to produce a composition of matte'r which may be made into permanently transparent, strong and 'fl'exible sheets orfilm's of desired; thinness which are substantially" waterproof, are' un-i affected by ordinary photographicfluidsand possess the "desired properties of a support" for sensitive. photographic;coatingsi An- "other object of my invention is to produce a composition which is capable of easy and convenient manipulat-ionin the plastic and analogous arts, such as in thevmanufacture of sheets, films, artificial silk filaments, varnishes, lacquers and the like; and toproduce afcomposition which will notinjure, or be injured by, the'substances .or surfaces with p which it is associatedduring manufacture, storage or use. Other and further objects will hereinafter becomeapparent 1 to those, skilled in the arto which this 'invention' pertains. i i

, While cellulosejacetate has beeniknown for decades, it has also been known that to'utilize it'i'n the various plasticarts itis necessary to mix therewith suchplasticizingor condition-v ing agents as c'amphor, triphenyl phosphate, monochlornapthalene' or t he' like. "',.Certain of these and other addition agents are also added for the purpose of reducing the inflammability of the ,product. ducing agents, such as. the higher alcohols and 1 their esters, are sometimes also added;

Similarly addition compounds of various kinds have been employedito increase flexibility, transparency, toughness and other properties which will enhance; the valuefofa the resulting product. Addition product's vfor t a e or m lar pu p ses-are also,

Plastic inadded! to cellulose acetate to prepare use in the other plastic arts, such as in the manufacture of lacquers, varnishes, artificial silk filaments, moulded compounds and the like. While the plasticizers "or-other addi T tionagents heretofore", discovered have ha'd,

their utilityinthe art, the increasing use to whichcellulose acetatehasbeen put and the increasing number of-xdesirable properties required of celluloseacetate for most 'purposes T has made the discovery of-new and economical plasticizers or other addition agents amatter of considerable importance adding thereto the"plasticiz ing" compound nitropara xylene in the presence of a' solvent, such-as acetone, which will dissolve both the cellulose acetate'ian'd plasticizer; This plasticizer is'a liquid at ordinary atmospheric temperature and has the structural formula- It is not an expensive compound and not par- .ticularly diflicult to produce, or obtainlupon= i .the'open market. The jparticularly useful properties Whichit induces in or contributes to a cellulosic composition containing; it are hereinafter enumerated .v 7 i o 7 Inorder that those skilledin thisartmay I better understand my inventionrl would,

state, by way of illustration, that for the man- .i ufacture of photographicfilm-or other sheets my, new composition of mattermay be coni- Dounded as 1 follows 1O0 parts ofacetone-solaj i ble celluloseacetate, ;i.ie. cellulose acetate i j J p v I ,1 s particularly. compatible with cellulose acetate in the percentages hereinafter given. 1

containing sum 36%. to,42%fa cetyl radical, w approximately, i's dissolved with-stirring at Y 1 V atmospheric temperature; 3,00fto. 500 parts,

preferably AQOjpa'rt's', by; weight, ofacetone,

To. this solutionmay be added from parts by weight, of nitro-para-xylene, it being found preferable to employ approximately to 50 parts thereof. Within the limits stated, the amount of plasticizer may be decreased or increased, depending upon whether lt lS desired to decrease or lncrease,

respectively, the properties which'this plasticizer contributes to the finished product The amount of solvent employed may also bendecrea-sed or increased, depending. upon whether it is .desired to have a more or less freely flowing composition, respectively.

A composition'of matter prepared as above described may be deposited upon any suitable film forming surface to form a film orsheet, asis .well known to those skilled in the art. A film so produced haspermanently brilliant transparency and low inflammability, burning no merereadily than ordinary newsprint. Such filmis very tough and flexible, as shown by the fact that it will withstand many folds upon amodified. Schopper fold-tester (commonly usedv for such purposes) without breakin and that even after being subjected for l lQhays to air maintained at a temperature of 65 (1, the film still maintains flexibility, demonstrating that the film will withstand ordinary usage satisfactorily for many years, whereas a film formed from a mere solution. of celluloseracetatein acetone or other silnilar solvent isbrittle and fragile after being, subjected to the same treatment for as mums thirtydays or even a lessertime. The sum ,totalof the above advantageous properties of a product produced from my new composition is considerablyin excess of that of products; produced with what have previously been regarded as the better plasticizers.

Other similar solvents (instead of ace such as cellulosepropionate, butyrate and the like, OTWlllll mixed organic and/ or lnorganlc esters, such as cellulose aceto-stearate, aceto-malate, or cellulose nitro-acetate, or with the cellulose ethersfa suitablesolvent which will dissolve both the cellulos icderivative andthe plasticizer being employed;

The accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, clearly illustrates 'the particular advantages of employing my novel plasticizer in the plastic arts, In this drawing there are plotted lines or curves graphically depicting the properties of film produced from a composition containing cel- "lulose acetate and this plasticizer. On the horizontal axis is indicated the various percentages of my plasticizer that may be'employed with the cellulosic acetate, this. percentage being given in parts added to the cellulose acetate rather thanparts of the compo sition; for instance, parts plasticizer added to 100 parts cellulose acetate is denoted as 30% plasticizer added. On the vertical axis at (a), on the left, is indicated in percentage over the check sample the initial flexibilty of a film which has been formed as described from my novel composition and which has been subjected to air at C. for Qe'hours to free it of solvents; at (b) on the right is indicated the length of time in days that the film will maintain flexibility when subieced to air kept at a temperature of C. Thecurve (A) depicts initial flexibility of the film and the curve (B) depicts the ability of the film to maintain flexibility, all with various percentages of my novel plasticizerand all as compared to the. respective properties of a film produced from a solution of cellulose acetate in acetone and a hypotheicalv inert material substituted for the plasticizer as denoted by curve (D) indicating unity of 100% and 30 days for (a) and (b). It will thus be noted that my novel plasticizer has the faculty of giving, to a product produced therefrom, very good initial flexibility and alow combustion rate,

and that the product maintains its flexibility quite well. The preferred percentage of my plasticizer which it is desirable to employ to contribute any particular. property. to the final product will be obvious from an inspection of this drawing; the best percentage'to employ will depend upon which property it is desired to feature most in the final product.

Inasmuch as my above described composition of matter is quite useful in the production of films and sheets it will be apparent that my new plasticizer may also be employed with advantage in the other branches of the plastic art. For instance, my above described composition of matter may be 'employed in the manufacture of artificial silk by the dry spinning method. With the proper coagulating bath it may also be em ployed for wet spinning. It may be desired such as triacetin or other high or intermed- ,7

to employacomposition of different viscosiate boilin constituents, as has been well known in the art for more than a decade. My novel plasticizer may also be employed with advantage in connection with a number of the known lacquer and varnish formulae with whichit may be found to be compatible.

In suchcases, the plasticizer is usually first put into solution with the cellulose acetate solution and if non-solvents are added for the purpose of cheapening-the composition, fi

they are added only to such an extentas will i not precipitate the cellulose acetate from solution. Other uses within/the scope of my invention will also suggest themselves. to those skilled in the art.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is: v

1. A composition of matter comprising cellulose acetate and nitro-para-xylene.

2. A composition of matter comprising 100 parts cellulose acetate and from about 10 to 50 parts, by weight, of nitro-paraxylene. r

10 3. A composition of matter comprising 100 parts of cellulose acetate and approximately parts, by weight, of nitro-para xylene. 1 i

4. A composition of matter comprising 15 100 parts of cellulose acetate and approximately 50 parts, by weight, of nitro-paraxylene. c 7

Signed at Rochester, New York, this 19th day of September, 1929.

2o STEWART J. CARROLL. 

